Cam Skattebo (Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Cam Skattebo admitted that he mulled over retirement after his gruesome season-ending leg injury suffered last year.
“The first month was like ‘damn, do I really want to do this?’” he told the Up & Adams podcast. “And then it was only seven games in, I was like I have to go back and play, there’s no shot.”
This was always the 25-year-old bruising running back’s M.O. If he suffered a serious injury, he would call it quits. Perhaps he was not expecting it to happen seven games into his pro career.
The Arizona State product electrified a dormant Giants team as a rookie last season. In seven games (five starts), he posted 617 yards from scrimmage and seven touchdowns, suggesting that Big Blue found another franchise cornerstone on offense to team up with fellow second-year man, quarterback Jaxson Dart, and third-year wide receiver Malik Nabers, who is coming off a torn ACL that ended his 2025 season after just three games.
He added that, by the end of the 2025 season, those thoughts of retirement were long gone, allowing him to fully focus on his rehab and getting back for a new campaign that begins on Sept. 13 against the Dallas Cowboys.
“That’s something I’ve built over the last nine, 10 months,” Skattebo said. “Now being able to focus back in on football, I’ve had lots of talks with family and friends, and it’s football time now.”
Even with a clean bill of health, the Giants and new head coach John Harbaugh likely will not make Skattebo their bell cow rusher. The backfield has the potential to be built upon a committee that also includes Tyrone Tracy Jr., who posted 740 yards last season, and veteran Najee Harris, who eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in each of his first four seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Another veteran, Devin Singletary, sits fourth on the depth chart.
For more on Cam Skattebo, visit AMNY.com
